Garuda cancels some flights as Indonesia's Merapi erupts

Garuda Indonesia cancelled 14 flights to Yogyakarta after a volcano about 19 miles north of the city erupted and forced authorities to close the local airport. The airfield, 520 km southeast of Jakarta on the island of Java, was closed at about 10:42 a.m. on Friday local time, and reopened at 2:17 p.m., state air-navigation operator AirNav Indonesia said Friday. Mount Merapi’s eruptions are minor, caused by accumulation of volcanic gases, and shouldn’t lead to further outbursts, the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation at the nation’s Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said in a statement, adding its status is “normal.” Other airlines that cancelled flights include those operated by the Lion Group. Indonesia is located on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and geological fault lines surrounding the Pacific Basin. The archipelago has about 120 active volcanoes. <br/>